Current Beauty Staples!

Every season or so I like to share with you guys my current beauty staples and now that we are deep into spring and heading into summer I thought it was time again! I have a ton of products to share so let's get right into it! 


1.  Let's start off with the mother of them all, the Too Faced Natural Love eyeshadow palette.  This palette has 30 shades and it's the only thing I have been using for weeks!  The possibilities are just endless.  My absolute favorite shade is honeymoon.  It's just a gorgeous peach shade that I think works so well for blue eyes!  You will also see that it is the beginning of a trend that you will see throughout the rest of this post. 

2.  Next I am going to talk about foundation.  I was always one of those girls who vowed that they would never spend more than nine dollars on foundation but I was also one of those girls who never found a perfect match.  I will admit that Ipsy ruined me for life because one month I got the Makeup Forever HD Foundation in my bag and I will now forever (sadly) spend fifty dollars on foundation.  This stuff is so amazing and I have never had such a perfect match before in my life.  What I wasn't realizing is that I actually have red undertones in my skin and I wasn't buying for it but this helps to reduce the redness in my skin.  It also gives me full coverage without looking cakey! 

3.  I think most of us all know and love the Too Faced Better Than Sex mascara.  This mascara gives you the most beautiful lashes without having to pile it on.  I am usually good to go with one coat!  


4.  Now let's talk cheeks!  Without a doubt my favorite blush of the moment is the Too Faced perfect flush blush in Sparkling Bellini.  This blush will give you a perfect sherbet glow to your skin.   I find myself reaching for this more than anything else right now and I love pairing it with a peach eye and lip for a monochromatic look! 

5. Another real MVP is Panorama by Lorac.  It's such a beautiful pastel lavender and adds a great sheen to the cheeks.  I think it works so well with my very pale skin tone and I think it may even rival my all time favorite blush, Full of Joy by MAC...maybe. 

6. As you can see by the picture above the highlight I am going to be talking about is very well loved by me.  Mary-Lou Manizer by the Balm has been a staple for me for a long time.  It's the perfect champagne highlight and I recommend it to anyone who loves looking like a disco ball, just like me! 

7.  I have been using the Physicians Formula Butter Bronzer and in my opinion it is better than any high end bronzer I have tried in the past.  I love this stuff SO much!  True to its name it is so buttery and goes on the skin flawlessly giving the skin a gorgeous golden glow.  It also smells like coconut which will get you into the summer spirit in no time! 


8.  Continuing on with my coral theme here I had to talk about this Too Faced lip oil in Tickle-Me-Peach.  Guys, I can't tell you how much I LOVE this lip gloss!  First off it smells absolutely amazing, which is always a plus.  But the consistency is so smooth and it just glides on your lips and the color is amazing.  My favorite way to wear it is by just putting the product on the center of the lips and blending it outward.  It creates a really pretty effect that will make it look like you just ate a popsicle, really perfect for summer!  

9.  If you want to make a bold statement with a great matte lipstick then you will love Indie Flick by NYX.  I find myself reaching for this a lot.  I love matte lipsticks and sometimes they can be really hard to wear.  But what I love about NYC mattes is that they don't dry out your lips, they are extremely wearable, which is why I find myself reaching for this so much!

10.  I have probably mentioned this before in the past but I just have to mention it again because it is such an important lipstick in my collection.  Bare All by Maybelline is the perfect nude for my skin tone.  I love to wear this when I am wearing a really bold eye look to make my eyes pop even more.  This lipstick is extremely creamy and moisturizing so you won't have to worry about your lips drying out!

11.  To be honest I hardly ever buy nail polish anymore.  I just get really frustrated with it.  Every time I paint my nails it seems to immediately chip and I would rather pay to have them last then do them myself anymore.  But when I saw this nail polish I couldn't resist.  This is Resort Romanza by Essie and I just love the bright coral/pink shade.  It will go so well with a slight tan this summer!  I am also fairly impressed with this formula.  I am not sure if Essie is doing something different but this polish will last a solid four days with very minimal chipping, something that I can definitely live with!

So there you have it, all of my top beauty products for spring and the upcoming summer season!  I hope you all enjoy playing around with your own makeup looks this season as well.  Have a blessed week! 

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You've Got Snail Mail!

Hi everyone!  Today I wanted to share with you all a new tradition that we have started in our family. A few months ago my sister-in-law, knowing how much I love Rifle Paper Co, gave me a stationary set that included all of these really cute stickers to use on envelopes.  It got me thinking how very little I actually send mail.  We live in such a digital world and snail mail has kind of gotten lost in the thick of it all.  I thought it would be a really special tradition to start with our girls, to send out mail to our loved ones on a regular basis.  Something that we put time and effort into, a small gesture to bless the receiver.  We also live on the other side of the country from my husbands family and don't see them very often, so I thought this would be a great way for them to know that they are always on our hearts too.  


When it comes to sending mail I usually let Ezrah (our oldest) do all of the card decorating, which usually includes a ton of glitter, and then I get the envelopes.  I love coming up with different ways to decorate them to make them a little extra special.  I included a couple of different envelope designs here in this post just in case any are interested in doing this yourselves! 

Of course, for the purpose of this post, all of the names and addresses are fictional. 


For the first design I just used a white gel pen and for the second I used a metallic gold paint pen (super fine tip) over a wash of black water color.  I always start off with pencil and play around with everything until its just the way I want it and then I go in with whatever medium I am using.  Since these addresses are fictional and I won't actually be sending them out I spared the stamp, but to make it easier it's best to put the stamp on first.  That way you don't risk having to cover up some of your design with the stamp, which I have done plenty of times.  

I hope you all enjoyed this short but sweet post all about snail mail.  I also hope that some of you are inspired to start sending mail out to your loved ones too!  Not everything has to be done on the computer or a phone, we are capable of connecting in other ways, and I love how sending mail has reminded me of that.  It's nice to slow things down a bit sometimes and take more than just ten seconds to put a little love into something for the people we love.  

I hope you all have a blessed week, I'll see you again next time!